10 things you need to know today

South Korea unexpectedly cut rates. The Bank of
Korea cut its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to a record
low 1.25%. The rate cut was the first since June 2015, and comes
as "exports have continued their trend of decline." Thursday's
decision, while unexpected, wasn't completely out of left field,
as the bank appointed four new board members in March, at least a
few of whom are considered to be dovish. This was their
second meeting. The South Korean won ended little changed at
1155.89.

New Zealand kept policy on hold. The Reserve Bank of
New Zealand held its key interest rate unchanged at 2.25%, as
expected. The bank warned, "The exchange rate is higher
than appropriate given New Zealand’s low export commodity
prices," and said it expects inflation to pick up as a result of
accommodative monetary policy. The New Zealand dollar is stronger
by 1.3% at .7104.

Consumer prices in China rose lose than expected.
China's CPI rose 2% year-over-year in May, missing the 2.3% gain
that economists had forecast. The reading was the lowest since
January and came as food inflation hit 5.9%. Meanwhile, producer
prices fell 2.8%, beating the 3.3% drop that was anticipated.
May's print marked the smallest drop since November 2014.

George Soros is trading again. Legendary investor
George Soros is back, reports Gregory Zuckerman at The Wall
Street Journal. According to the report, Soros is bearish
on the global economy and has placed short bets against stocks
while also buying gold. Soros is the second-most-successful
money manager of all-time, according to London-based fund
of funds LCH Investments, trailing only Ray Dalio.

Restoration Hardware warned.The
luxury-furnishings retailer announced an adjusted loss of $0.05
a share, which was worse than the $0.05 gain that was
expected. Revenue edged up 4% to $455.5 million, topping the
Bloomberg consensus of $452.8 million. Restoration Hardware
slashed its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to a range of
$1.60 to $1.80, missing the $2.66 that Wall Street was
anticipating. Shares were down as much as 14% in after-hours
trade.

Europe
had its biggest IPO of the year. Wind-farm giant
DONG Energy opened to gains as large as 10% in Copenhagen. DONG
has built more than one-quarter of the world's offshore wind
farms, according to Reuters. Thursday's IPO values the company at
98 billion crowns ($15 billion).

Goldman Sachs is cutting staff in Russia. The
investment bank has reportedly cut traders, back-office staff,
and investment bankers in Russia. A source told Reuters as much
as 10% of Goldman's Russia staff could be let go, while another
said more cuts are likely by the end of the summer.

Earnings reports trickle out. J.M. Smucker and
Vail Resorts are among the names set to report ahead of the
opening bell and H&R Block will release its quarterly results
after markets close.

US economic data remains light. Initial
claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and wholesale inventories
will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. Then, at 10:30 a.m. ET,
natural-gas inventories will be announced. The US 10-year yield
is down two basis points at 1.68%, its lowest since February.